In writing about this, we need to be very, very clear so that people understand.
In the old colonial days, you would set up or support a government that "legitimately" delivered to you the resources of a country at fire-sale prices. Sugar from Cuba, oil from the Middle East, timber from Burma,....etc.
Now the game is a little more sophisticated: you make it look like you're letting countries into the free market game but set things up so that all the risk is taken by the periphery. When the music stops, the country "legitimately' has to pay up through austerity, which is the "legitimate" enslavement of its people. But it is still enslavement.
But I hear they're rising up in Romania. And man, when the Romanians rise up, you know that things have gotten pretty bad.
Joanna
----- Original Message ----- From: "Julio Huato" <juliohuato at gmail.com> To: "Marxist Debate" <marxist-debate at googlegroups.com>, "scisoc" <scisoc at googlegroups.com>, pen-l at lists.csuchico.edu, "Lbo Talk Lbo Talk" <lbo-talk at lbo-talk.org> Sent: Friday, May 7, 2010 11:45:15 AM GMT -08:00 US/Canada Pacific Subject: [lbo-talk] My blog post
It's now working (slightly revised version):
http://juliohuato.wordpress.com/2010/05/07/on-public-debt/ ___________________________________ http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/mailman/listinfo/lbo-talk